Pear Custard Pie
The 2024 National Pie Championship winner in the Professional category is this luscious Pear Custard Pie, celebrated for its harmonious blend of silky, creamy custard and tender, ripe pears. Created by Michele Stuart, the perfectly flaky crust encases this exquisite filling, delivering a refined balance of sweetness and texture that captivated the judges' palates.
9-inch pie crust:
- 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons Crisco, refrigerated for at least an hour
- 4-6 tablespoons cold water
- 2-3 ice cubes
- ¼ cup heavy cream
Ingredients for filling:
- 3-4 medium pears, peeled, cored and cut into slices. I prefer Bosc pears.
- 3 large eggs
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
- Add a few ice cubes to a small bowl of water, set aside.
- Thoroughly mix flour and salt in a medium bowl. Add the full amount of Crisco, and gently hand mix. Stop mixing when pea-sized pieces begin to form.
- Add ice-cold water in one tablespoon increments, be careful not to add any ice. After each addition gently hand mix the dough. You will use between 4-6 tablespoons of water, depending on factors such as temperature, humidity, and altitude. Enough water has been added when the dough easily forms into a ball.
- Wrap your dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least thirty minutes, preferably overnight.
- Separate the dough into two even pieces. Re-wrap half the dough and store in the refrigerator. Take the other half of the dough and form into a puck shape. Roll out the dough using a rolling pin and a small amount of flour on both the counter and the rolling pin.
- Roll dough into a ten-inch circle, to place dough in your pie dish fold the circle in half, then align the centerfold with the middle of your pie dish and unfold the dough. Crimp the edges as desired. Use immediately or wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate while you prepare the filling of the pie. Just prior to filling the shell use a pastry brush to brush the crimped edges of the pie shell with heavy cream.
- In an electric mixer, combine all the filling ingredients except pears. Scrape down and mix well.
- Brush the edges of the pie shell with cream. Add sliced pears. Cover pears with custard.
- Place the pie on a baking sheet and place in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes, then rotate. Continue to bake the pie for another 30-35 minutes or until the pie is golden brown and firm.
- Cool pie in refrigerator for several hours.
- Whip cream, vanilla, and powered sugar. Decorate pie as desired.
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